Brighter Than the Sun

Chapter Seventy

I frowned. "What do you need to know about..." I squinted at the spines of the books behind me, struggling to read them because I'd left my glasses in my dorm. "Mint... orgy?"

"Oh, my god, McKeon, no."

"I don't have my glasses, what does it really say?"

"Mythology."

"Oh, okay. Yeah, that makes more sense." I frowned. "Wait, no it doesn't. Why are you researching Mythology?"

"I originally started because I was doing research for an Astronomy essay. My mother's family are all supposed to be named after stars and constellations, so I wanted to write about that. And loads of constellations are named after characters in Greek mythology. But then I noticed many of the myths had heroes in them, and another word for hero is half-blood."

"Cool story," I said, already bored and not even paying attention. My head was throbbing and I really didn't want Malfoy of all people to see me like this. "Now leave me alone."

"Even if you weren't obviously having a breakdown, I wouldn't listen to you," Malfoy said. "Look, I understand your secret now. You're not half-wizard. You're half-god."

I lunged and smacked my hand over his mouth, then realized he could lick my hand. I did not want him to lick my hand, so I lowered it. "Sorry. Look, the point of a secret is that it stays a secret!"

"I'm not going to tell anybody!"

"Well, then what was the point of you telling me that you know?"

"So that you would know that I know," said Malfoy, pointing at me. "So you'd know I'd figured it out."

"Okay, and what was the point of that? Do you want a cookie or something?"

"It's 'biscuit,' McKeon."

"We're not here to discuss the difference in British and American vocabularies. I'm gonna call it a freakin' cookie and you're going to deal with it."

"Whatever." Malfoy huffed and rolled his eyes. The kid was such a drama queen. "Look, the point is that I know. And I'm guessing that whatever you came here to have a breakdown about, it has something to do with being a half-blood. And since I have no business talking to any of your friends about it, you can tell me what's going on."

"How do I know that you won't tell any of your friends about it?"

"I swear on the River Styx not to tell anyone without you saying it's alright."

I gaped. Malfoy making a promise on the River Styx? Thunder rumbled outside, startling Malfoy. His eyes widened and his expression mirrored mine.

"Wait, that was a real thing?" he demanded.

"Did you seriously make a promise on the Styx without even thinking it was real?"

"I thought it was symbolic!"

"No, stupid, everything in Greek mythology is real. There is a real River Styx in the Underworld, and if you break any oath on it, you'll suffer a fate worse than death. Symbolic my a—"

"An even better reason not to tell," Malfoy said, rolling his eyes again. I wondered if his eyes would fall out if he rolled them enough times. "So are you going to vent or not?"

I frowned. I'd always considered Luke and Hermione to be the best people to vent to. But I couldn't tell Hermione about being a demigod in the first place, much less the prophecy about Luke. As for telling Luke about his own foretold death? Yeah, that was an immediate no. Malfoy was really the only one who could hear both parts. He already knew I was a demigod, so I technically didn't tell him. And the vision problem was a whole different thing.